Method of Amplifying Atp and Use Thereof

ABSTRACT

The ATP amplification method of the present invention is a method for amplifying and detecting a very trace amount of exogenous ATP by allowing a fusion protein (PPK-ADK) of a polyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase, the fusion protein not containing ADP, to act on a mixture of ATP, AMP, and a polyphosphate compound. The present invention also provides an ultrasensitive ATP amplification method by which ATP at a single cell level can be amplified and detected, and an ultrasensitive microbial assay based on this ATP amplification method.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for amplifying ATP, a methodfor rapidly detecting the presence of a microorganism using theamplification method, and a kit for the detection method.

BACKGROUND ART

In the food industry, dairy industry, and other industries, methods forrapidly detecting microorganisms with high sensitivity are veryimportant, for example, in the control of environmental microorganismssuch as the detection of microorganisms at food manufacturing plants forprevention of food poisoning, and in the inspection for contamination ofmicroorganisms in food products (e.g., dairy products such as milk). Inconventional methods for detecting living cells using a nutrient medium,it takes several days until a living microorganism is counted.

For the detection of microorganisms as described above, a method ofutilizing ATP present in all organisms has been examined. As a methodfor detecting ATP, a bioluminescence assay employing firefly luciferasehas been known. This method is an established technique for measuringATP (see DeLuca, M. and W. D. McElroy, “Kinetics of the fireflyluciferase catalyzed reactions,” Biochemistry, vol. 26. pp. 921-925(1974)) and has been used as a rapid, hygiene monitoring (Bautista, D.A. et al., “Adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence as a method todetermine microbial levels in scald and chill tanks at a poultryabattoir,” Poult. Sci., vol. 73, pp. 1673-1678 (1994)). Furthermore, anATP assay has recently been proposed as a technology for counteringbioterrorism (Spencer, R. C. and N. F. Lightfoot, “Preparedness andresponse to bioterrorism,” J. Infect., vol. 43, pp. 104-110 (2001)).

However, the conventional methods for assaying ATP have a detectionlimit (e.g., approximately 10⁴ E. coli colony-forming units(CFU)/assay). Such a sensitivity is not sensitive enough for industrialor practical applications.

A computer simulation has suggested that ATP amplification employingadenylate kinase (ADK) and pyruvate kinase (PVK) provides a possibilitythat a very low level of ATP can be detected without using a photometerhaving high sensitivity (Chittock, R. S. et al., “Kinetic aspects of ATPamplification reactions,” Anal. Biochem, vol. 255, pp. 120-126 (1998)).However, this method has not been utilized in practice.

In order to assay a trace amount of ATP, a method for amplifying ATP hasbeen proposed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-299390).This method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2001-299390 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, ADKrefers to adenylate kinase, polyP refers to polyphosphate, and PPKrefers to polyphosphate kinase. Hereinafter, these abbreviationssometimes are also used in the present specification. FIG. 1 a showsthat in the absence of ATP, ATP is not theoretically produced from AMPand polyphosphate. As shown in FIG. 1 b, in the presence of ATP, ADKcauses a transphosphorylation from ATP to AMP, which results in aproduction of two molecules of ADP (first reaction). The two moleculesof ADP produced in this first reaction receive a phosphate group frompolyphosphate by the action of PPK, resulting in a production of twomolecules of ATP (second reaction). The two molecules of ATP produced inthis second reaction are used again for the first reaction to producefour molecules of ADP, and these four molecules of ADP are thenconverted into four molecules of ATP by PPK.

In this manner, according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2001-299390, excess amounts of AMP and polyphosphate are added to thereaction system to drive the ADK and PPK equilibrium toward theproduction of ADP (first reaction) and the production of ATP (secondreaction), respectively. Then, by repeating a single reaction systemincluding the first reaction and the second reaction n times, onemolecule of ATP is amplified to 2^(n) molecules of ATP. Therefore, thismethod is an excellent method for amplifying ATP.

Although this method described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent PublicationNo. 2001-299390 is an excellent method in that the presence of cells canbe detected with a higher level of sensitivity than conventionallyachieved, it turned out that in this method, amplification of ATP in theabsence of ATP, which does not occur in theory, is sometimes observed ata low level, and thus there is a problem in that this method does nothave reliability for amplifying and detecting exogenous (externallyadded) ATP only. That is to say, there is a problem in that this methodcannot reliably provide such a sensitivity that ATP at a single celllevel can be amplified and detected. Furthermore, there are alsoproblems such as the adjustment between the activities of ADK and PPK.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

There is a demand for a method for efficiently amplifying exogenous ATP.In particular, there is a demand for a method for amplifying exogenousATP only and a high-sensitive detection method by which the presence ofa single cell can be detected using this amplification method.

The present invention was achieved in order to solve the foregoingproblems. By the ATP amplification method of the present invention, avery trace amount of ATP can be detected, and furthermore, the presenceof only a single cell can be detected.

The present invention provides a method for amplifying ATP, includingallowing a fusion protein of a polyphosphate kinase and an adenylatekinase to act on a mixture containing ATP, AMP, and a polyphosphatecompound.

In a preferred embodiment, the fusion protein of a polyphosphate kinaseand an adenylate kinase is a fusion protein that does not contain ADP.

Moreover, the present invention provides a method for detecting ATP,including allowing a fusion protein of a polyphosphate kinase and anadenylate kinase to act on a mixture of ATP, AMP, and a polyphosphatecompound to amplify ATP; and detecting the amplified ATP.

In a preferred embodiment, the fusion protein of a polyphosphate kinaseand an adenylate kinase is a fusion protein that does not contain ADP.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a method for rapidlydetecting the presence of a microorganism, including treating a samplecontaining a microorganism to prepare a sample containing ATP; addingthe sample containing ATP to an ATP amplification system to amplify ATP;and detecting the amplified ATP, wherein the ATP amplification systemincludes AMP, a polyphosphate compound, and a fusion protein of apolyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase, the fusion protein notcontaining ADP.

Moreover, the present invention provides a kit for rapidly detecting thepresence of a microorganism, including an ATP amplification reagentcontaining AMP, a polyphosphate compound, and a fusion protein of apolyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase, the fusion protein notcontaining ADP; and an ATP detection reagent for detecting ATP.

In a preferred embodiment, the kit further includes a cell lysisreagent.

The present invention further provides a method for amplifying ATP byallowing an adenylate kinase and a polyphosphate kinase that does notcontain ADP to act on a mixture of ATP, AMP, and a polyphosphatecompound.

The present invention also provides a fusion protein of a polyphosphatekinase and an adenylate kinase, and a fusion protein of a polyphosphatekinase and an adenylate kinase, which does not contain ADP.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an ATP amplification mechanismemploying ADK and PPK.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of ATP amplifications employing aPPK-ADK and an apyrase-treated PPK-ADK.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the results of ATP amplifications performed onsamples containing very trace amounts of ATP.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the results of ATP amplifications performed onsamples containing cells in predetermined concentrations.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Fusion Protein

Regarding the fusion protein of a polyphosphate kinase and an adenylatekinase (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “PPK-ADK”) that is usedin the present invention, the order of a linkage of the enzymes is notparticularly limited as long as the fusion protein reveals the PPKactivity and ADK activity. The fusion protein preferably contains thePPK on the N-terminal side and the ADK on the C-terminal side. In thisfusion protein, the PPK may be bound to the ADK directly or via aspacer. To purify the fusion protein, it is useful to attach a tag thatdoes not affect the expression of the enzymes to the C-terminal of thefusion protein.

There is no particular limitation regarding the sources of a ppk geneencoding the PPK and an adk gene encoding the ADK, as long as thesequences of these genes are identified. The sequences of E. coli arepreferably used.

By preparing appropriate primers based on these gene sequences andperforming PCR, respective gene sequences can be obtained.

As a suitable primer for preparing the ppk gene, for example, acombination of the following primers is preferable: (1) a primer havinga sequence for introducing an appropriate restriction enzyme recognitionsite upstream of the 5′ end of the ppk gene; and (2) a primer having aspacer (e.g., glycine) sequence and a sequence for introducing anappropriate restriction enzyme recognition site in the spacer site ordownstream thereof. When PCR is performed by using a combination ofthese two primers, a fragment containing a ppk gene that expresses a PPKhaving a spacer at the C-terminal is collected easily.

As a suitable primer for preparing the adk gene, the following primersare preferable as in the case of the ppk gene: (1) a primer having asequence for introducing an appropriate restriction enzyme recognitionsequence upstream of the 5′ end of the adk gene; and (2) a primer havinga C-terminal tag (e.g., histidine) sequence and having a sequence forintroducing an appropriate restriction enzyme recognition sequencedownstream of the C-terminal tag. When PCR is performed using acombination of these two primers, a fragment containing an adk gene thatexpresses an ADK having a tag at the C-terminal is collected easily.

Restriction enzymes of the above-described primers can be determined inview of the gene sequence of ppk or adk and a cloning site of a vectorinto which fragments are to be incorporated.

PCR is performed using the chromosomal DNA of E. coli as a template andthe above-described primers, and the obtained DNA fragments are eachcleaved with restriction enzymes to collect a fragment containing theppk gene and a fragment containing the adk gene. The obtained fragmentscontaining the respective genes are inserted into an appropriate vectorso as to be arranged in order of ppk-adk, and thus a recombinationvector that expresses a fusion protein of PPK-ADK can be obtained.

The obtained vector is introduced into an appropriate host (e.g., E.coli) to express the recombinant vector, and thus the PPK-ADK fusionprotein is produced. The fusion protein designed to have a histidine tag(His-tag) is purified and collected easily by using a Hitrap chelatingcolumn.

The obtained fusion protein, PPK-ADK, can be used for an ATPamplification without being subjected to any treatment. However, asdiscussed below, it turned out to be improper to measure exogenous ATP.This may be because ADP is present as bound to PPK. The ADP bound to PPKmay serve as a substrate of the PPK in the presence of a polyphosphatecompound, and this ADP may be converted into ATP by PPK. That is to say,it seems that in a reaction system as shown in FIG. 1, a reaction fromADP to ATP, which is the second reaction, occurs first even in theabsence of ATP, and this ATP is then used in the first reaction, therebyinitiating an ATP amplification automatically. Therefore, in order tomeasure exogenous ATP only, it is necessary to remove the ADP bound tothe PPK in advance.

Removal of the ADP, which is an impurity bound to PPK, is performed byan apyrase treatment, for example. Apyrase removes a phosphate groupfrom ATP or ADP to produce AMP. The apyrase treatment is preferablyperformed in the presence of an appropriate amount of pyrophosphate.Pyrophosphate promotes release of the ADP bound to PPK-ADK, so that theADP becomes susceptible to attack by apyrase. The apyrase-treatedPPK-ADK is collected using a Hitrap chelating column again. Thecollected PPK-ADK retains the respective activities (i.e., PPK activityand ADK activity) even after the apyrase treatment.

(Amplification of ATP Using PPK-ADK)

The amplification of ATP using the PPK-ADK of the present invention isperformed by allowing the PPK-ADK to act on ATP, an excess amount ofAMP, and an excess amount of a polyphosphate compound. That is to say,it is performed by adding ATP to a mixture of AMP, the polyphosphatecompound, and the PPK-ADK or by adding the PPK-ADK to a mixture of ATP,AMP, and the polyphosphate compound. The mode of the reaction is thesame as in FIG. 1, and the first reaction and the second reaction shownin FIG. 1 are repeated to amplify ATP.

The amplification of ATP is performed in an appropriate buffer solutionat an appropriate temperature (e.g., 30 to 40° C.) for an appropriateperiod of time (e.g., 5 minutes to 2 hours). When it seems that ATP ispresent in a trace amount, the amplification reaction is preferablyperformed for about one hour.

As the polyphosphate compound, polyphosphoric acid or a salt thereof isused. Preferably, a compound in which 10 to 1000, preferably 10 to 100phosphate molecules are linearly polymerized is used advantageously. Thepolyphosphate may be derived from bacteria or may be chemicallysynthesized. Alternatively, it may be synthesized from ATP using apolyphosphate synthetase.

(Detection of ATP)

Regarding the method for detecting the amplified ATP, a method usuallyused by those skilled in the art can be employed, and there is noparticular limitation. Generally, the detection is performed bymeasuring the amount of luminescence due to a reaction of a luciferasewith ATP. For example, a commercially available ATP measurement kitemploying luciferase can be used.

(Method for Rapidly Detecting the Presence of a Microorganism)

This method is a method in which, focusing on the fact that ATP iscontained in the cells of all organisms, a sample containing ATP isprepared from a sample containing a microorganism, and ATP is amplifiedusing the above-described ATP amplification method and detected. The useof the PPK-ADK subjected to the ADP removal treatment allows themeasurement of exogenous ATP. For example, ATP contained in a singlecell can be amplified to a measurable level, so that the presence ofonly one microorganism can be detected. Considering that the detectionlimit of the conventional methods was 10⁴ colony-forming units (CFU) ofE. coli per assay, the detection sensitivity is increased by a factor ofat least 10,000.

It should be noted that the microorganism contains ADP. When the PPK-ADKsubjected to the ADP removal treatment is used, when ADP is added to theamplification system of the present invention, the ADP is converted intoATP, and thus an ATP amplification is initiated. Therefore, theamplification method of the present invention is superior in that evenwhen ATP is degraded into ADP during a pre-treatment for the detectionof a microorganism, the sensitivity in the present invention is notaffected. Hereinafter, in the context of the detection of amicroorganism, a sample of ATP to be measured is meant to include a casewhere ADP is contained in the sample.

There is no particular limitation regarding the method for preparing anATP-containing sample from a microorganism-containing sample. It ispossible to lyse a cell, but in view of influences of enzymes such asPPK and ADK contained in that cell, a method of performing a heattreatment to elute ATP or a method of lysing the cell, eluting ATP, andthen performing a heat treatment for inactivating the other enzymes ismost preferably employed. The heat treatment is performed, for example,at 100° C. for 1 to 5 minutes. The cell lysis treatment can be performedusing a lysis buffer, e.g., a lysis buffer that is included with acommercially available ATP assay kit.

Such a sample that is obtained by performing the ATP release treatmentand that seems to contain ATP is added to a mixture of AMP, thepolyphosphate compound, and the PPK-ADK to perform an ATP amplification,and then the presence of ATP is detected using, for example, an ATPdetection method employing luciferase. If ATP is contained in thesample, then it reacts with the luciferase and luminescence is observed.It should be noted that since ATP is amplified, a luminometer havinghigh sensitivity is not necessarily required.

The present invention also provides a kit for rapidly detecting thepresence of such a microorganism. That is to say, a kit including an ATPamplification reagent containing AMP, polyphosphate, and a PPK-ADK thatdoes not contain ADP and an ATP detection reagent for detecting ATP isprovided. This kit may further include a cell lysis reagent. Thecomposition of the cell lysis reagent may be changed depending on thecells to be detected (e.g., a microorganism, a somatic cell, and thelike).

The presence of a microorganism can be detected rapidly by subjecting asample that seems to contain the microorganism to a heat treatment,adding the sample to the ATP amplification reagent of this kit toperform an amplification for an appropriate period of time, and thenconfirming the presence of ATP with the ATP detection reagent. Thismethod was accomplished by use of PPK-ADK obtained by performing the ADPremoval treatment so as to detect exogenous ATP. As the ATP detectionreagent, a reagent using a luciferase-luciferin reaction system iscommonly used, and the term “ATP detection reagent” used hereinconceptually includes also a bioluminescence (fluorescence) measuringinstrument.

(ATP Amplification Using ADK and PPK that Does not Contain ADP)

The present invention also provides a method for amplifying ATP byallowing an ADK and a PPK that does not contain ADP to act on a mixturecontaining ATP, AMP, and polyphosphate. The PPK that does not containADP is prepared, for example, in the same manner as in the preparationof the fusion protein described above. In brief, a DNA fragmentcontaining a ppk gene that expresses a PPK having a His-tag is collectedusing a primer having an appropriate restriction enzyme recognitionsequence upstream of the 5′ end of the ppk gene and a primer having aHis-tag sequence and having an appropriate restriction enzymerecognition sequence downstream thereof. The obtained DNA is introducedinto an appropriate vector to obtain a recombinant plasmid, which isthen introduced into E. coli to express the PPK. The PPK is purified byusing a Hitrap chelating column, treated with apyrase in the presence ofpyrophosphate, and subjected to a Hitrap chelating column again tocollect the PPK from which ADP has been removed. By using this PPK inthe reaction system shown in FIG. 1, a method for amplifying anddetecting exogenous ATP only is provided.

EXAMPLES

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by means ofexamples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

In the examples, AMP and ATP used were purchased from Wako Pure ChemicalIndustries, Ltd. (Osaka) and Sigma, respectively. The AMP was furtherpurified by using a TSKgel SAX column (TOSOH) with 0.2 M KCl and 1% EDTA(pH 10) as a solvent. As the polyphosphate, polyphosphate having anaverage chain-length of 65 (Sigma) was used. A bioluminescence assay kit(CLSII) including luciferin and luciferase was purchased from Roche.Apyrase was purchased from Sigma.

Example 1 Preparation of PPK-ADK

Primers for obtaining a gene (ppk) encoding E. coli polyphosphate kinase(see Akiyama, M. et al., “The polyphosphate kinase gene of Escherichiacoli. Isolation and sequence of the ppk gene and membrane location ofthe protein,” J. Biol. Chem., vol. 267, pp. 22556-22561 (1992)) are asfollows:

(SEQ ID No: 1) GGATCTAGATGAATAAAACGGAGTAAAAGT and (SEQ ID No: 2)GGAGGATCCGCCGCCGCCGCCTTCAGGTTGTTCGAGTGATTT.

The primer of SEQ ID No: 1 has a sequence for introducing a restrictionenzyme XbaI recognition site in the 5′ terminal of the ppk gene. SEQ IDNo: 2 is designed so that four glycines are attached to the C-terminalof the PPK, and further has a sequence for introducing a restrictionenzyme BamHI recognition site in the 3′ terminal.

Primers for obtaining a gene (adk) encoding E. coli adenylate kinasegene (Brune, M. et al., “Cloning and sequencing of the adenylate kinasegene (adk) of Escherichia coli,” Nucleic Acids Res., vol. 13, pp.7139-7151 (1985)) are as follows:

GGAGGATCCATGCGTATCATTCTGCTTGGC (SEQ ID No: 3) andGGAAAGCTTGCCGAGGATTTTTTCCAG. (SEQ ID No: 4)

The primer of SEQ ID No: 3 has a sequence for introducing a restrictionenzyme BamHI recognition site in the 5′ terminal of the adk gene. Theprimer of SEQ ID No: 4 is designed so that histidine, which is aC-terminal tag, is attached to the C-terminal of the ADK, and furtherhas a sequence for introducing a restriction enzyme HindIII recognitionsite in the 3′ terminal.

PCR was performed in the commonly used manner by using the chromosomalDNA of E. coli as a template and the above-described primers to obtainDNA fragments containing the ppk gene and the adk gene, respectively.The obtained DNA fragment containing the ppk gene was inserted into apGEMT vector (Promega) to obtain a pGEMTppk. The obtained DNA fragmentcontaining the adk gene was inserted into a PGEMT vector (Promega) toobtain a pGEMTadk.

A 2.1 kb fragment obtained by digesting the pGEMTppk with XbaI-BamHI anda 0.6 kb fragment obtained by digesting the pGEMTadk with BamHI-HindIIIwere ligated to a XbaI-HindIII digest of a pET vector (Stratagene),thereby constructing a plasmid pETppkadk. This plasmid contains a geneencoding a fusion protein of PPK and ADK with C-terminal His-tag inwhich PPK is bound to ADK via the four glycines.

This plasmid pETppkadk was introduced into E. coli (E. coli BL21), andthe resultant transformant was cultured for 2 hours, and then 1 mM IPTGwas added to a growth medium. After 4 hours of incubation, thetransformant was harvested by centrifugation and suspended in a 20 mMphosphate buffer (pH 7) containing 0.5 M NaCl. The cells were lysed witha B-PER reagent (Pierce) and then treated with DNase and RNase in thepresence of 1 mM PMSF. The supernatant was obtained by centrifugation,filtrated through a 0.2 μm filter, and then loaded onto a Hitrapchelating column (Amersham Bioscience). The column was washed with 0.1 Mpyrophosphate, 20 mM phosphate, 0.5 M NaCl, 50 mM imidazole, and 20%glycerol (pH 7.4). A PPK-ADK fusion protein was eluted with 0.1 Mpyrophosphate, 20 mM phosphate, 0.5 M NaCl, 0.5 M imidazole, and 20%glycerol (pH 7.4).

The obtained PPK-ADK fusion protein had the activities of ADK (43 U/mg)and PPK (38 U/mg) and produced ATP from AMP and polyphosphate. It shouldbe noted that one unit of PPK synthesizes 1.0 μmol/minute of ATP fromADP and polyphosphate at 37° C. One unit of ADK synthesizes 1.0μmol/minute of ATP from ADP at 37° C.

Then, 50 μl of a reaction mixture containing 0.16 μg of the PPK-ADK, 10μM AMP, 400 μM polyphosphate, 8 mM MgCl₂, and 60 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4)were prepared. Then, 5 μl of the reaction mixture were sampled and mixedwith 40 μl of the ATP bioluminescence assay reagent (Roche), andluminescence was measured immediately by using a multiplate luminometer(ARVO, Wallac).

As indicated by PPK-ADK in FIG. 2, amplification of ATP occurred in thisreaction system that did not contain ATP, and luminescence was observed.The cause of this phenomenon was examined, and it was suggested thatsince ADP was bound to the PPK, this ADP was used by the PPK to firstlycause the second reaction shown in FIG. 1 to produce ATP and this ATPmight then be amplified.

Example 2 Removal of ADP Bound to PPK-ADK

In order to remove the ADP, which was an impurity bound to the PPK-ADKobtained in Example 1, 180 μg of the PPK-ADK were reacted with apyrase(200 U) for one hour in the presence of 60 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8), 8 mMMgCl₂ and 10 mM polyphosphate. After the reaction was finished, thePPK-ADK from which the ADP was removed was collected by using a Hitrapchelating column again. Hereinafter, this PPK-ADK is referred to as the“apyrase-treated PPK-ADK”. It should be noted that one unit of apyrasereleases 1 μmol of phosphate from ATP or ADP per minute at 30° C.

Next, 50 μl of a reaction mixture containing 0.16 μg of theapyrase-treated PPK-ADK, 10 μM AMP, 400 μM polyphosphate, 8 mM MgCl₂,and 60 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4) were prepared. Then, 5 μl of the reactionmixture were sampled and mixed with 40 μl of an ATP bioluminescenceassay reagent (Roche), and luminescence was measured immediately byusing a multiplate luminometer (ARVO, Wallac).

As shown in FIG. 2, in the reaction using the apyrase-treated PPK-ADK,luminescence was not observed even after 60 minute reaction. It shouldbe noted that although not shown in the drawing, when ATP was added tothis mixture, luminescence was observed. From this fact, it was foundthat the apyrase treatment does not affect the ADK activity and the PPKactivity of the PPK-ADK and that as a result of removing the impurity,ADP, by the apyrase treatment, ATP amplication did not occur when theendogenous ATP was not added into the reaction mixture. Accordingly, itis believed that the luminescence observed when ATP was added was causedpurely by the exogenous ATP. Therefore, the apyrase-treated (ADP-free)PPK-ADK is very useful in assay of exogenous ATP.

It should be noted that, in the apyrase treatment, it is preferable toadd pyrophosphate to a washing buffer and an elution buffer when thePPK-ADK is adsorbed on a Hitrap chelating column and eluted from thecolumn. Since 0.1 M pyrophosphate has an effect of releasing ADP fromthe PPK-ADK, ADP can be removed more efficiently.

Example 3 Ultrasensitive Bioluminescence Assay

First, 48 μl of a reaction mixture containing 0.16 μg of theapyrase-treated PPK-ADK, 10 μM AMP, 400 μM polyphosphate, 8 mM MgCl₂,and 60 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4) were prepared, and then 2 μl of an ATPsample were added to this reaction mixture to amplify ATP. Thereafter, 5μl of the reaction mixture were sampled over time and mixed with 40 μlof an ATP bioluminescence assay reagent, and luminescence was measuredimmediately by using a multiplate luminometer. For comparison, a samplewas prepared without amplifying ATP (without adding the PPK-ADK), andthe luminescence thereof was measured. Each value of luminescence is themean ±standard deviation of three different measurements. The increasein luminescence over time is shown in FIG. 3, and the results of ATPamplification after 60 minutes are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Luminescence (rlu) ATP amplification ATP (fmol) Without With 330813 ± 22 28,180 ± 1606 33 113 ± 14 18,793 ± 241  3.3 50 ± 6 8,767 ± 4430.33 52 ± 9 4,455 ± 36  0.033  53 ± 12 2,734 ± 233 0.0033  62 ± 12 1,553± 102 0 51 ± 2  229 ± 26

As shown in FIG. 3, it was found that when exogenous ATP was notpresent, the apyrase-treated PPK-ADK did not amplify ATP at all in spiteof an amplification treatment for 60 minutes. Furthermore, as shown inFIG. 3 and Table 1, it was found that in spite of a low initialconcentration of ATP, ATP can be amplified to such an extent thatluminescence can be measured. The results show that this ATPamplification is applicable to an ultrasensitive bioluminescence assay.In other words, it was shown that by subjecting a sample containing ATPin a concentration of 0.0033 femtomoles (fmol: 10.15 mol=3.3 attomoles:10⁻¹⁸ mol) to an ATP amplification treatment for 60 minutes, ATP can beamplified to a detectable level. That is to say, it became possible todetect ATP at a concentration of several attomoles (amol: 10⁻¹⁸ mol). Onthe other hand, conventional bioluminescence requires several tensfemtomoles (fmol: 10⁻¹⁵ mol) of ATP to measure the luminescence thereof(Table 1). Thus, it is shown that by using the ATP amplification methodof the present invention, the sensitivity of bioluminescence wasincreased by a factor of at least 10,000.

Example 4 Application of Ultrasensitive Bioluminescence Assay inDetecting a Single Microorganism

The E. coli culture (2×10⁹ CFU/ml) was diluted to an appropriateconcentration with pure water. The cell suspension (500 μl) was added to500 μl of a lysis buffer (bioluminescence assay kit, Roche) and heatedto 100° C. for 2 minutes to release ATP from the cells. Thereafter, 2 μlof the heated sample were subjected to an ATP amplification assay tomeasure bioluminescence.

For comparison, a sample was prepared without amplifying ATP (withoutadding the PPK-ADK), and the luminescence thereof was measured. Eachvalue of luminescence is the mean ±standard deviation of three differentmeasurements. The increase in luminescence over time is shown in FIG. 4,and the results of ATP amplification after 60 minutes are shown in Table2.

TABLE 2 E. coli cells Luminescence (rlu) per assay ATP amplification(CFU) Without With 100,000 1,126 ± 255   39,722 ± 1,596 10,000 296 ± 34 33,903 ± 2,244 1,000 52 ± 4 16,901 ± 1890 100 37 ± 4 6,823 ± 205 10 39± 6 3,280 ± 604 1 37 ± 7 1,714 ± 44  0  43 ± 12  364 ± 73

As shown in Table 2 and FIG. 4, the amount of luminescence was varieddepending on the number of E. coli cells used in the assay (FIG. 4). Asshown in Table 2, when compared to the case where ATP amplification wasnot performed, the luminescent development was significantly enhanced inthe case where ATP amplification was performed. Without ATPamplification, the degree of luminescent development was very low evenin the case of 10,000 CFU in Table 2, and several 10,000 CFUs of E. colicells were required to attain a significant level of bioluminescence. Onthe other hand, when the ATP amplification technique of the presentinvention was used, a distinct luminescence was observed even at thelowest level of a single E. coli cell (the level corresponding to 1 CFUof E. coli cell). This shows that the sensitivity was higher than in thecase where ATP amplification was not performed by a factor of 10,000 ormore.

It has been reported that the intracellular ATP level of the E. colicells is about 7 μmol/g dry cells (Neuhard, J., and Y. Nygaard, “Purinesand pyrimidines,” pp. 445-473, F. C. Neidhardt et al. ed., “Escherichiacoli and Salmonella typhimurium: cellular and molecular biology,” ASMpress, Washington, D.C. (1987)). Since the dry weight of one E. colicell is about 2.8×10⁻¹³ g (F. C. Neidhardt, “Chemical composition ofEscherichia coli,” pp. 3-6, F. C. Neidhardt et al. ed., “Escherichiacoli and Salmonella typhimurium: cellular and molecular biology,” ASMpress, Washington, D.C. (1987)), E. coli contains about 2 attomoles ofATP per cell. This level of ATP is almost equal to that of the detectionlimit of this ultrasensitive bioluminescence assay.

Example 5 Application of Ultrasensitive Bioluminescence Assay to HygieneMonitoring

The inventor of the present invention has examined whether or not themethod of the present invention is applicable to swab monitoring of E.coli. First, a cell suspension of E. coli was spread on a polystyrenepetri dish, air-dried, and swabbed with a commercially available cottonswab. Since the commercially available cotton swab contains asignificant amount of ATP, it was previously autoclaved at 121° C. for75 minutes to decompose ATP to AMP and phosphate. The sample swabbedfrom a surface area of 4 cm² was dipped into 400 μl of a lysis buffer,and then heated at 100° C. for 2 minutes. The heated sample (10 μl) wasadded to an ATP amplification reaction solution (40 μl), and an ATPamplification reaction was performed for 60 minutes. Then, 25 μl of thereaction mixture were used for a bioluminescence assay. The results areshown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Number of Luminescence (rlu) E. coli cells ATP amplification(CFU) Without With 120,000 223 30,630 12,000 62 23,835 1,200 52 10,215120 51 2,685 12 53 1,653 0 65 404

By this swab monitoring, a measurement at a level of about 12 CFU of E.coli/cm² was possible. It was found that the method of the presentinvention is applicable to swab monitoring of E. coli.

Example 6 Detection of Bacteria in Drinking Water

The inventor of the present invention has examined whether or not themethod of the present invention is effective in detecting bacteria indrinking water. First, a water sample (2 μl) heated was added to an ATPamplification reaction solution (50 μl), and an ATP amplification wasperformed for 60 minutes. The results are shown in Table 4. In Table 4,“tap water (1)” was obtained from a water supply in Hiroshima city. “Tapwater (2)” is a water recycled in the Hiroshima University. “Bottledwater” was purchased commercially. “Sterilized water” was prepared byautoclaving distilled water. “Pond water” is the water of a pond at theHiroshima University. The number of colonies (CFU) was obtained byapplying 1 ml of a water sample on a nutrient agar medium (1.6 g oftryptone, 1 g of yeast extract, 0.5 g of NaCl, 15 g of agar, and 1 L ofwater) and counting the colonies formed after 3 days of cultivation at28° C.

TABLE 4 Luminescence (rlu) Number of ATP amplification colonies Samplesource Without With (CFU) Tap water (1) 15 1,400 33 Tap water (2) 13 4131 Bottled water 30 239 >1 Sterilized water 23 254 >1 Pond water 9 310059

The results indicate that bacteria could be detected even at a level atwhich they cannot be detected by the conventional bioluminescenceassays. As shown by the results in Table 4, it is found that it ispossible to detect 1 CFU/ml of bacteria by subjecting the water samplesto an ATP amplification treatment for 60 minutes by using the method ofthe present invention. The conventional method using a nutrient mediumtypically requires several days to detect bacterial contamination (Table4). It has been reported that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is apathogenic bacterium, was detected in tap water (Bert, F. et al.,“Multi-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak associated withcontaminated tap water in a neurosurgery intensive care unit,” J. Hosp.Infect., vol. 39, pp. 53-62 (1998)), and the presence of such amicroorganism can be detected easily and rapidly according to thepresent invention.

Example 7 Detection of Bacteria in Milk

The application in dairying was examined. Since bacterial contaminationcauses extensive damage in the milk industry, rapid and reliable testsfor detecting bacteria in milk have been developed. The inventor of thepresent invention further examined a high-sensitive assay for detectingStaphylococcus aureus in milk. A growth culture of Staphylococcus aureuswas diluted to an appropriate concentration and added to milk. In orderto remove non-bacterial ATP derived from mammary gland and somatic cellsthat is contained in milk, 0.5 ml of milk were filtrated through a 0.45μm membrane filter. This membrane filter was washed with 10 ml of asolution containing 0.2% Triton X-100, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.8), and 2mM EDTA (Olsson, T. et al., “Extraction and determination of adenosine5′-triphosphate in bovine milk by the firefly luciferase assay.Biotech,” Appl. Biochem, vol. 8, pp. 361-369 (1986)). After washing,this membrane filter was dipped into 200 μl of a lysis buffer, andheated to 100° C. for 5 minutes. The heated sample (20 μl) was subjectedto an ATP amplification for 60 minutes. Then, the sample was used for abioluminescence assay. The results are shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Number of S. aureus cells Luminescence (rlu) (CFU)/ ATPamplification 0.5 ml milk Without With 750,000 399 39,491 75,000 8410,011 7,500 47 4,141 750 50 1,790 75 37 1,156 0 49 432

As a result of the assay, 75 CFU (Staphylococcus aureus)/0.5 ml, milkcould be detected. Although the sensitivity in the detection ofStaphylococcus aureus was lower than that of E. coli, the sensitivity inthe detection of Staphylococcus aureus in milk was enhanced to about10,000 times higher than that of a conventional bioluminescence assay.The method for rapidly determining the presence of a microorganism ofthe present invention is applicable to not only microorganisms in theenvironment but also a wide range of hygiene monitoring techniques.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The PPK-ADK fusion protein of the present invention acts on a mixture ofATP, AMP, and a polyphosphate compound to amplify ATP. In particular, byusing a PPK-ADK that does not contain ADP, which is an impurity, itbecomes possible to amplify exogenous ATP, so that ATP derived from amicroorganism at a single cell level can be amplified. The amplified ATPcan be detected by a luciferase assay, for example. Therefore, amicroorganism, detection of which has conventionally taken at leastseveral days, can be detected very rapidly, and furthermore, even only asingle cell can be detected.

1. A method for amplifying ATP comprising: allowing a fusion proteinthat has a polyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase in this orderfrom the N-terminal and that has been subjected to a treatment forremoving ADP to act on a mixture containing ATP, AMP, and apolyphosphate compound.
 2. (canceled)
 3. A method for detecting ATPcomprising: allowing a fusion protein that has a polyphosphate kinaseand an adenylate kinase in this order from the N-terminal and that hasbeen subjected to a treatment for removing ADP to act on a mixture ofATP, AMP, and a polyphosphate compound to amplify ATP; and detecting theamplified ATP.
 4. (canceled)
 5. A method for rapidly detecting thepresence of a microorganism comprising: treating a sample containing amicroorganism to prepare a sample containing ATP; adding the samplecontaining ATP to an ATP amplification system to amplify ATP; anddetecting the amplified ATP, wherein the ATP amplification systemcomprises AMP, a polyphosphate compound, and a fusion protein that has apolyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase in this order from theN-terminal and that has been subjected to a treatment for removing ADP.6. A kit for rapidly detecting the presence of a microorganism,comprising an ATP amplification reagent containing AMP, a polyphosphatecompound, and a fusion protein that has a polyphosphate kinase and anadenylate kinase in this order from the N-terminal and that has beensubjected to a treatment for removing ADP; and an ATP detection reagentfor detecting ATP.
 7. The kit of claim 6, further comprising a celllysis reagent.
 8. (canceled)
 9. A fusion protein that has apolyphosphate kinase and an adenylate kinase in this order from theN-terminal and that has been subjected to a treatment for removing ADP.10. (canceled)